Improvement in buckles



. UNITED VSTATES PATENT OEEcE.

LEONARD A. SPRAGE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

llVlPROVM ENT IN BUCKLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,401, dated May 27, 1862.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD A. SPRAGUE, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Lever or Pinching Buckle; and I do hereby declaregthat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, makinga part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a plan or external view of my invention attached to a strap with its ends connected together thereby. Fig. 2 is a section of the same taken in the line x m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan or external view of the same with the free end of the strap disengaged or not secured in the buckle.

Smilar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of that class of buckles which hold the part of the strap which passes through them by pinching or gripping it.

To enable those skilled in the art to fullyl understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the frame of the buckle, which may be of rectangular or other form, and Bis the axis of the rfr a1ne,which may be made separately and then secured in the frame, or made with the frame in one piece. The latter mode I consider preferable. G is the lever of the buckle,which is tted loosely on the axis B of the frame. The front end of this lever nearly touches the front part, a, of the frame Awhen the buckle has not the free end of the strap secured in it, and the back end of the lever is permanently attached in any proper way to theleather or other strap, D. The lever B is constructed of a plate orstrip of metal doubled or bent, one part over the other,and inclosing the axis B, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, the end of the strap D being between the folded parts and secured by rivets b. rlhe front end of the lever C may be milled or corrugated, if necessary, in order to obtain a lirm bite or grip on the strap.

The frame A is slightly bent, so that its back part will project outward sufficiently to form a loop for the end of the strap D to pass through, and the front end or part, a, of the frame is slightly inclined, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2, in order to form a bearing for the strap when acted upon by the lever. This will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 2.

The free end of the strap,when drawn tinder tension or a resisting force through the frame A, between its front part or end, a, and the front end of the lever C, will be firmly pinched and held in position by said lever. Under the tension of the strap the greater the force which acts upon the strap to distend its ends the firmer the pinch or hold will be.

I do not claim, broadly or irrespective of the construction herein shown and described, a lever or pinching buckle, for they have been previously used, but constructed in a more complicated and expensive way than that- 

